IDIOT

Mickey Kaus is under the impression that Bush missed an opportunity to attack John Kerry during last night's debate:

Biggest whiff: Bush once again failed to pick apart Kerry's annoyingly opportunistic Iraq/Osama/Tora Bora attack. He could have argued a) Yes we made some mistakes but Kerry is letting a few of Zarqawi's bombs panic him--and trying to get them to panic the electorate. What kind of leader does that?; b) Kerry voted against the 1991 Gulf War, which began the inspection regime he says he wanted to continue! If we hadn't prosecuted that war, Saddam almost certainly would have developed a nuclear bomb, no? c) Bush did note that Kerry's plan for Iraq is basically the same as Bush's plan (plus a summit), but didn't flesh out the point in way that would be clear to the average viewer.

(text emphasis his, of course)

Why "A" is stupid: First, has Kerry given any indication or hint that he's going to bug out of Iraq, either because of Zarqawi or not? I don't think the phrase "We must succeed in Iraq" suggests that. But more importantly, everybody, guess what the fundamental problem is with Kaus' suggestion. The answer, of course, is "Yes we made some mistakes". I think our President has made it clear that he refuses to ever admit any particular mistake.

Why "B" is stupid: The second Bush says that, Kerry would rightly go into how many people involved with Desert Storm -- including Bush's dad -- knew that marching into Baghdad and occupying it would have created a fucking mess. And guess what we have now? A fucking mess! I don't think Bush would want to give Kerry an opening to highlight that inescapable fact.

Why "C" is stupid: Invites the questions about credibility with other nations... the small coalition... Missouri would be the 3rd largest, etc.

With all this in mind, I would be more than happy to forward Mickey Kaus' resume to the Bush-Cheney campaign, for consideration as an offical political advisor.